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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26640538">Inverted Recurrence</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_prefer_the_term_antihero/pseuds/I_prefer_the_term_antihero'>I_prefer_the_term_antihero</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Castlevania [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲 | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action, Action/Adventure, Angst, Castlevania Cartoon Characterizations, Comedy, During Canon, During Canon (SOTN), Fighting, Friendship, Gen, POV Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya, Post-Canon, Post-Canon (Cartoon), SOTN Inverted/Reverse Coliseum Boss Fight, Swearing, Tragedy/Comedy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:48:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,830</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26640538</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_prefer_the_term_antihero/pseuds/I_prefer_the_term_antihero</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been three hundred years since Alucard saw Trevor and Sypha. When he sees a version of them in the inverted coliseum...he just can't seem to win the fight against them. </p><p>So he loses. Over and over.</p><p>(The inverted coliseum boss fight from Symphony of the Night, but with the Netflix series characters)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya &amp; Fairy Familiar, Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya &amp; Trevor Belmont &amp; Sypha Belnades</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Castlevania [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2207712</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Inverted Recurrence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <i>Please read!!</i>
</p><p>First of all, warning!! There will be swearing in this fic!! </p><p>Even though most of my fics are either for the Castlevania Netflix series, or work for both the Netflix series and Symphony of the Night, this is my first true SOTN fic. All that to say, if you haven't played the game, you're probably going to be pretty confused. (I'll try to summarize at the end of this note though). </p><p>However, despite it being a SOTN fic, I used the characterizations of the characters from the Netflix series, which is why I tagged both. This is also why Grant is not present, even though he's present in the actual fight. I wanted to include him, especially because they took him out of the show...but <i>because</i> they took him out of the show, and because I have yet to play Dracula's Curse, I didn't feel like I could properly characterize him to have him in the scene.</p><p>If you are a fan of the show, and have never played the game, but still want to try to read the fic, I'll try to give you some background as concisely as I can:<br/>SOTN takes place 300 years after Dracula's Curse (the game the Netflix series is based off of).<br/>Dracula is revived by the dark priest Shaft, and Richter Belmont faces off with Drac and wins...but later vanishes without a trace.<br/>With no Belmonts to fight, Alucard is woken from his self-induced slumber to enter the castle.<br/>After going through the castle you eventually find Richter is there, and being controlled by Shaft, and that there is an inverted version of the castle you must go through to fight Dracula. The boss fights in the regular castle and inverted castle sometimes mirror each other based on the rooms they're in. In the right-side up Coliseum you fight Shaft-possessed Richter, and in the inverted Coliseum you fight a fake version of Trevor and Sypha (and Grant).</p><p>Also, you can pick up familiars as you go through the game, and they're little creatures that float by you and help you out. I used the fairy the most because she heals you.  Also I thought the fairy was much more "good" and human-like than a ghost or demon. So I used her in the fic.</p><p>Lastly, there's a boss fight where you fight a Succubus, who tries to rewrite one of Alucard's memories. The memory reveals that Alucard was there when his mother died, and that she told him to love humanity despite the evil they were capable of. </p><p>If you enjoyed this I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a comment!! They make my week, and really help motive me to keep writing multi-chapter fics like this one!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alucard hit the ground of the save room…which happened to be the ceiling, breath and heartbeat crawling through his chest like fire ants.</p><p>“Well…fuck.”</p>
<hr/><p>Fire consumed the werewolves’ snarls, echoing through the stone hall, and he continued up the corridor without a glance back.</p><p>Alucard paused to think; count the rooms. </p><p>He wiped the blood off his sword—well, not <i>his</i> sword, that is to say, he still didn’t have his mother’s sword back from that dickhead, Death. Due to this, he was using one he had borrowed from one of those green skeletons upon its second death. </p><p> “Are you prepared?” he asked his fairy familiar. “If my thinking is correct we’re coming upon the main part of the coliseum. This could get”—he adjusted his grip on the sword and inclined his head to the side. “Interesting.”</p><p>She folded her arms and bowed. “I am prepared for whatever comes our way, Master Alucard.”</p><p>He grinned back. “Good.”</p><p>He marched forward, and, sure enough, the upside-down version of the coliseum center revealed itself. The same room where he had fought the Shaft-possessed-Richter in the right-side-up castle. The sconces spilled blue fire endlessly to the ground, fixed to columns that didn’t reach the ‘floor’, in a circle around an overthrown throne. A throne which held no one now, as if he were a gladiator in an upturned universe, a slave of the games, watched by an invisible sadistic god, hosting this for their own pleasure. </p><p>The doors shut themselves behind, and in front, of him with a loud thump, closing off his exits. </p><p>Yup. Interesting. </p><p>He stood on guard, aiming the sword at the pentagonal spinning coffins in the center of the room, his mind cycling through what might step out;</p><p> Let’s see, skeletons? Zombies? Ghosts? No it’d be something more advanced than that. Maybe a dragon would walk out? Or maybe he’d fight the embodiment of emperor Nero himself? That might be fun. </p><p>When their lids creaked forward and the first enemy stepped out it did not, in fact, have rotting skin, or a malevolent grin…It looked like a man. </p><p>A man with brown hair, blue eyes—one of which a scar fell across—sauntered over to Alucard, the Belmont crest gleaming on his chest. </p><p>Alucard froze, eyes widening. </p><p>The man groaned when he saw Alucard—but not in an undead way, more like a man who was annoyed—and, unlike many of the monsters, he spoke:</p><p> “Well if it isn’t the cockwart, Alucard.”</p><p>Alucard fought werewolves and demons, things that spit fire, things that turned him to stone, things that would eat his soul out if given the chance, and he didn’t even break a sweat. Not much could make his heart hammer these days.</p><p> But this—</p><p>“Trevor! What have I told you about speaking your mind?!” Alucard had been so focused on Trevor he hadn’t noticed the other enemy: a woman in blue smacked Trevor on the back of the head. </p><p>“Uhh that it’s what everyone should do it all the time?” he rubbed his head. </p><p>She pulled on his ear. </p><p>“Okay, okay! Easy on the moneymaker!” </p><p>Alucard’s eyes stayed open wide, as if he was afraid if he closed them they’d disappear and he’d remember he was dreaming. The golden irises oscillating beneath waves of memory, the sword at his side twitching. </p><p>“Master Alucard?” the fairy’s voice was muffled behind the sound of his heartbeat. </p><p>He fought reanimated flesh, and first-animated metal, he fought things straight out of books, things he wished were mere fantasy, and never once did he stand paralyzed. </p><p>But this…this made his blood thump cold and relentless in his ears. This made his heart start churning with questions, his head ache with memory. This made his throat tighten with sentimentality long forgotten. </p><p>The fairy couldn’t hear the words he breathed. </p><p>Three hundred years is a long time. Even if he spent most of it asleep, time has a way of weighing heavy on the chest.</p><p>They were arguing amongst themselves, while the fairy was asking him questions, but he couldn’t make out any of the words. As if he was beneath many tons of water, the pressure slowly crushing him.</p><p>Being immortal has never been the blessing humanity thought. Watching your friends, your family, die is hard enough, but when you know you won’t be joining them wherever they’re going for a long time, if at all, things get more complicated. The pain, then, isn’t just loss…it’s the knowledge of what you’ll never lose. Watching your friends die, while you, standing at their death bed, look the same as you did when you met them sixty years ago, like you’re taunting them, like you’re some cosmic joke… Watching them die, while you have millennia left to spend grieving, making new friends and watching them die too, just <i>living</i>… it isn’t exactly something you’d spend one of your three wishes on.</p><p>Sometimes he wished he was mortal. Human. That the blade and arrow would sting more, that words would mean more, that he’d remember the things his friends told long ago, under moonlit skies. He wished he could feel something, that he could feel fear and horror and hope. That the fight would pump in his veins. That he could grow old, and die, and wouldn’t have to live a thousand more lifetimes before death took him away. Sometimes he forgot how to appreciate life; they say death is what gives life meaning, after all. </p><p>Seeing his friends from centuries ago, his friends who he had argued with, played games with, laughed, cried with. Friends who he had watched die, who he had mourned, grieved long ago back again…</p><p>“What’s the matter?” Trevor put his hands on his hips, noticing that he was standing there dumbstruck. “Cat got your tongue?”</p><p>Alucard backed up on shaky legs, biting his lip until it bled. </p><p>He was twenty years old again. Twenty years old and they were in a snowy woods speaking of God, mothers, old books, and how lonely they all were, on their way to defeat Dracula for what they didn’t realize then was only the first time. </p><p>“<i>Master Alucard!</i>” the fairy fluttered in front of his face—how long had she been calling him? “<i>What’s going on?!</i>”</p><p>His lips were sealed shut; he couldn’t answer even if he wanted to. His eyes gravitated past her to the two behind her. </p><p>It had been so long. So long since those lonely nights. Since those sunny days. So long since he’d seen their faces. Heard their voices. Seeing, hearing, them now was like medicine after years of sickness, like sobriety after spending years drunk. Like reminding himself he hadn’t made them up after all—(because sometimes it felt like he had). So long…So long since he’d been with his friends. So long since he’d <i>had</i> friends. </p><p>“I did want to resolve our differences.” Sypha shrugged. “But, we’re going to have to show you what we <i>really</i> think of you now.”</p><p>“Couldn’t have said it better myself. It was nice—well uh…it was <i>something</i> knowing you.”</p><p>“…What?” Alucard’s breath made clouds in these snowy woods. </p><p>Trevor glanced up at him, unspooling the morning star whip—the one that he had once used to fight the night hordes with together…or at least a version of it…it didn’t look quite right.</p><p>“It’s a real shame”—he said like it wasn’t much of a shame at all—“but…we do have to kill you now.”</p><p>“We have a reputation to keep.” </p><p>“You know, vampire slayers and all. Can’t have the son of Dracula walking around.”</p><p>Alucard had to keep his breath from catching on itself and tripping.</p><p>He backed up, turning to see Sypha holding out her hands in a combat posture.  </p><p>He shut his eyes and shook his head quickly, clearing the snow from his eyes, reminding himself the woods were nothing but memory; he was here, in Dracula’s upside-down castle, fighting phantoms of his friends.</p><p><i>They’re not real,</i> he told himself. <i>They’re not your friends. Trevor and Sypha are gone. They’re just one of Dracula’s tricks. He’s using them to get to you.</i></p><p>He felt something wrap around his leg.</p><p>“Master Alucard!”</p><p>“It’s nothing personal.” Trevor spoke, “Except if you count the fact that we’d only do this to you...because you’re the worst.” He yanked on the whip and swung Alucard by his leg into the far wall at full force.</p><p>Sypha held up her arms beads of light before her fingers, then brought them together, making spikes of ice jut out from beneath the walls, stomping towards him. </p><p>He pried himself from the wall and jumped out of their way.</p><p>Trevor threw a cross at him—one made of bones—but it came back without finding its mark. </p><p>Before Sypha could send her jet of flame at him, Alucard burst forward, knocking her down. </p><p>“Attacking poor, innocent girls now? So that’s how you want to play it, huh?” </p><p>“Who are you calling ‘poor’ and ‘innocent’?!” Sypha crossed her arms, “I can handle myself thank you very much!”</p><p>“Oh—I—uh—I didn’t mean it like that!”</p><p>Sypha scowled at him.</p><p>It was like they walked straight out of his memory. …Were they really not real? </p><p>Trevor jumped up, raising his whip.</p><p><i>You don’t have to do this,</i> Alucard wanted to reason with them. </p><p>But he knew. He knew this wasn’t them. They were only a shell. A reanimated memory. Empty. There was nothing in there to reason with. </p><p>Alucard blocked his attack with his shield, and crouched down, slicing his leg, knocking him down. But before he could send the sword through his chest, Sypha raised her arm and incased him in a block of ice. </p><p>The fairy broke him out, but this had given Trevor enough time to get up, throwing another bone cross. This time it knocked Alucard down.</p><p>Sypha floated before him, ready to blast him with fire. This time Alucard teleported, slashing Trevor in the back. </p><p>“You filthy vampire bastard.” </p><p><i>Why them?!</i> He wanted to demand of Dracula, but that was all-too obvious. </p><p>Alucard disappeared in a column of gold, then reappeared, opening his cloak and sending fireballs towards Trevor, who extinguished them by swinging his whip. </p><p>He dodged Sypha’s ice spears, but Trevor took this opportunity to power up, and once Alucard was out of their way he began throwing continuous knives at him--which Alucard turned into a bat to avoid. </p><p>Sypha incased him in ice for the second time, returning him to human form. The fairy broke him out.</p><p>Before Sypha could cast her next spell Alucard turned into a wolf and bowled Trevor over, leaping into the air to bite Sypha’s leg—</p><p>But before his teeth clamped down on her leg something caught in his throat—something too close to sentiment—and he fell to the floor, himself again. </p><p>In the moment’s hesitation Trevor wrapped the whip around Alucard's neck. </p><p>His eyes glinted, and his mouth quirked up. “See you in hell.”</p>
<hr/><p>
  <i>“Well if it isn’t the cockwart, Alucard,” Trevor grunted as he sauntered down from the wagon, smirking. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“If it isn’t the bastard, Trevor.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Sypha ran up to the dhampir and put her arms around him.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“It’s so good to see you again Alucard!” She released him, putting a hand on his cheek and smiling. “You haven’t changed a bit!”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Well being half-vampire does have its benefits.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>They turned to look at Trevor, who was hanging back, rubbing the back of his head.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Sypha put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow at him. Trevor sighed.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Good god, I never thought I’d say this but…” He looked at his feet. “I missed you. …You and your stupid, ugly face.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"I have something to say to you as well.” </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Alucard promptly flipped him off. </i>
</p><p><i>Trevor made a face, groaning, “I try to say </i>one nice<i>—”</i></p><p>
  <i>Before they could blink Alucard had wrapped his arms around them, holding them so fast and so tight it nearly made them fall over.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I missed you too. …You don’t even know how much.”</i>
</p>
<hr/><p>Alucard hit the floor of the save room—which happened to be the ceiling—at full force, the world returning like a punch to the face. Once he regained his senses, he coughed, balling his hands into fists before him, breath harsh in his throat, heavy on his chest. </p><p>“Well…fuck.”</p><p> “…Master Alucard?” </p><p>He didn’t want to talk to her. He didn’t want to talk to much of anyone. He didn’t even want to think. To be here at all, in this castle. He half wished this save room didn’t exist so he wouldn’t have to go back there and do it all over again.</p><p>She fluttered up knelt in front of him, brushing the hair from his eyes. </p><p>Those eyes flicked to her. Eyes often soft and warm…now full of cold fire.</p><p>“I hope it’s not rude of me to ask…Who were those people?”</p><p>He didn’t reply at first, dropping his gaze, letting his breath rise and fall like ocean waves ripping through him, filling his eyes with saltwater.</p><p>“…Nobody.” He murmured low.</p><p> “They…” She paused a moment, trying to figure out how to delicately phrase things, “didn’t seem like nobody.”</p><p>He sat up. “…They’re not real.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to quell the burgeoning headache. “Dracula’s just trying to fuck with me.”</p><p>“Oh, indeed, I understand that.”—He shot her a reproving glance, so she continued more delicately—“…But most of Dracula’s minions don’t look human…not to mention they don’t <i>know</i> you…It appears to me whoever they represent were important to you.”</p><p>He looked away. He didn't want to talk about this. Not now. Not with a creature who--however well meaning--could barely begin to understand the horrors of immortality.</p><p>“And…they <i>did</i> know you...right?”</p><p>He looked down to see her wringing her hands.</p><p>“What exactly are you getting at?”</p><p>“It’s just…”</p><p>It dawned on him and he smiled, shifting to his knees. “That I’m the son of Dracula.”</p><p>She opened her mouth to say something, her wings beating and stopping nervously, looking down.</p><p>“Well it is a rather strange thing for them to say isn’t it? I mean, it can’t possibly be true.”</p><p>He smirked. “What if it is?” </p><p>She fluttered up to him, examining his features closely, her mouth open the whole time.</p><p>“You <i>are?!</i>”</p><p>He lowered his face closer to hers so she could feel his breath, his fangs glinting, “You <i>scared?</i>”</p><p> “...Not scared, more confused. I mean how can Dracula have a son? And—”</p><p>He raised an eyebrow. “Would you like me to go into the details?”</p><p>“I don’t mean that!” She smacked him lightly. “I mean…How can <i>you</i> be his son?”</p><p>“Why can’t I be?”</p><p>“Well first of all you don’t look like him—”</p><p>“Oh? And how do you know what Dracula looks like? Have you met him?”</p><p>“Well…I…” Her eyes darted between him and the ground, apparently grappling with the idea that he knew quite well what Dracula looked like. “This castle is full of Dracula’s supporters… he seems quite persuasive.”</p><p>“I’m not sure I’d say that—over half of them are creatures without reason, or free will, enough to know, or care, who they’re following.”</p><p>“Still…he has no shortage of allies.”</p><p>“What’s your question?”</p><p>“…How are you not one of them?”</p><p>He smiled. “I like to think I have a little more sense of right and wrong than mindless beasts.”</p><p>“Oh, no, I didn’t mean it like that! I just mean…you’re so kind. I wouldn’t think Dracula’s son—”</p><p>“I’m not <i>only</i> the son of Dracula.”</p><p>She paused, thinking, before looking up. “Your mother.” Her wings fluttered as she gained understanding, floating up to his face. “It was your mother, wasn’t it? That memory we saw. The Succubus. You said that your mother never said those things.”</p><p>“Yes, she said quite the opposite, in fact.”</p><p>She gave a sad smile. "...It sounds like you loved her very much."

</p><p>He gave an almost imperceptible nod as he looked away.</p><p>"I'm...sorry that happened to her. That's ...awful. Humans can be brutes at times."</p><p>"Yes." He agreed softly, before adding, "But not always. And not all of them."</p><p>She paused herself, then began fluttering back and forth—the fairy version of pacing—trying to wrap her head around it all. </p><p>“Was she married to Dracula?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Who was she?”</p><p>“Her name was Lisa… and she was mortal.”</p><p>“Did he love her?”</p><p>He smirked at the innocent and naïve question.</p><p>“Very much. ...Enough that he’d destroy the world for her.”</p><p>She paused, looking at the ground. “Is that why we must defeat him?”</p><p>He gave a small nod.</p><p>“It seems such a sad reason to have to kill him…for love.”</p><p>He looked off to the side, not saying anything. </p><p>“Come on.” He stood up. “It’s time for round two.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>For the cartoon, I actually wrote this fic before I watched S3, so when I was trying to come up with memories for after S2 with Trevor and Sypha all I could think of was simply them arriving back at the castle. Then reading it after watching S3 I realized their reunion would probably go differently :'( ...I decided to keep it as-is because I really have no clue how that's gonna go in later seasons, and because I felt people might like reading about a nice version of them coming back to him anyways. </p><p>For SOTN...It's been a hot minute since I played the game, so I don't remember if it would be obvious to the fairy that he was Dracula's son before this...but I really liked the conversation, so...</p><p>I've been going through my older fics left on my computer and trying to post them. For a lot of them, the way to get them posted is just to cut them at an earlier place. I really <i>really</i> didn't want to cut this one up, as I feel it's going to make it hard for me to figure out how to format later sections...However I also really <i>really</i> wanted to post this one. The premise behind this one is one of my favorites I've ever came up with, so I definitely didn't want it to just sit in my computer. Especially because the longer I wait the further away I get from when I actually played the game. And I didn't feel it was going to get finished if I didn't post what I had so far. So...yeah!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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